1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to text translation and more specifically to a system and method for translation and/or annotating messages provided in the context of instant messages.
2. Introduction
The present invention relates to instant messaging. There are other applications similar to instant text messaging with invention may also apply. FIG. 1 illustrates the basic instant text messaging service. A person who sends an instant message is represented as a sender 102. The sender 102 may be using client software such as AOL® Instant Messenger. Messages are transmitted via a network such as the Internet 100 to a recipient 104. The messaging sessions instantly exchanges text input by the sender or recipient so that each may simultaneously follow the dialog.
Users of instant text messaging services (e.g. AOL Instant Messenger, Jabber, MSN Messenger) are often of diverse backgrounds. This may lead to difficulties in communicating with each other. The following are some causes of the difficulties: 1) When the sender and recipient speak different languages (e.g. English vs Spanish) it becomes a challenge to communicate via instant text messaging. When people all around the world can write to each other instantaneously, this exacerbates the language issue; 2) Widespread use of abbreviations that are often sub-culture specific, such as teenagers who use a lot of insiders' abbreviations, such as “lol” (laugh out loud), “brb” (be right back) and so on. Others unaccustomed to these abbreviations often have difficulties understanding them; 3) Industry specific abbreviations, such as jargons and acronyms specific to the medical or legal profession, for example, are difficult for a layperson to understand. Furthermore, increasingly, instant text messaging is used for technical support and professional consultation and so on. In many cases the laypersons have difficulty understanding these technical jargons, medical terminology, legal terminology, etc.
Many companies that provide instant text messaging services will face the problem of the diversity background of people participating in an instant messaging session. This is a problem that plagues all users of instant text messaging systems. Such systems may be employed in an enterprise environment or in the consumer environment. Service providers and system application developers would all benefit from a solution to this problem.
Therefore what is needed in the art is a system and method that enables people of different backgrounds, who may speak a different language, or who may have different understandings of culturally specific abbreviations or other terms, to more easily communicate via an instant messaging session.